Envelop-machine



No. 620,6!3. Patented Mar. 7, |899. A. A. RHEUTAN.

ENVELOP MACHINE.

(Application led Mar. 2B, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 620,6I3.

(No Model.)

Mcm-s-LEEEE 5 Patented Mar. 7, |899. A. A. HHEUTAN.

vE'NVELP MACHINE.

(Application led Max'. 2S, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

NTTED STATES PATENT y OFFICE.

ABRAM A. RI-IEUTAN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ENVELOP-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 620,613, dated March?,1899.

Application filed Marek 28, 1898. Serial No. 6 75,420. (N0 model.)

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ABRAM ARHEUTAN,

. of the city and county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelop Machines; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this speciiicat-ion, and in which- Figure l representsa vertical section through part of the machine at one side of thefolding-bed, showing a side view of the parts to which my inventionrelates, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. Fig. 2 is a planof the folding-bed to which my said invention relates. Fig. 3 is a sideview thereof, also showing portions of its supports. Fig. 4 is avertical section through the parts shown in Figs. l and 2, taken on linea, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow, the various parts inall of said figures being shown in their normal positions with the bedin a horizontal position. Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 4, with thebed and parts operating therewith in the positions which they occupy indischarging the folded envelops from said bed, as will be hereinafterdescribed. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the parts shown in theprevious views, taken on line b, Fig. 4, looking in the direction of thearrow; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the sectional view shown inFig. 4, with the front end of the folding-bed broken away, the variousparts being shown in their normal positions by full lines and by dottedlines, with the bed partly swung down preparatory to discharging thefolded envelops therefrom, as will also be hereinafter described.

My invention is designed more especially for machines for folding longlarge envelops, and relates to the mechanism for discharging saidenvelops from the folding-bed.

It consists in making the folding-bed proper separate from the usualpivoted supportingarms and pivoting said bed at or near the center orpoint of equilibrium to the outer ends of said pivoted supporting-arms,where connection is also made with the verticallyoperated rod forlifting and depressing the thereof by the lowering or depression of saidbed, the purpose of said fingers being to lift the folded envelops fromthe surface of the bed and at the same time give them a slight push ortap to positively insure their quick and proper discharge from said'bedas the latter descends to discharge the same therefrom, all as will behereinaftermore fully set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to which myinvention appertains tobetter understand the nature and purpose'thereof I will now proceed todescribe it more in detail.

Referring to the drawings, A represents part of the main frame of anenvelop-machine.

B is the bed upon which the envelops are folded. As the foldingmechanism does not constitute a part of my invention it will beunnecessary to illustrate or describe the same.

C C are arms extending back from the bed proper, B, which are pivoted atA to suitable bearings C on frame A. Usually said arms are formedintegral with the bed or rigidly secured thereto, but in this instancethey are independent parts and their forward ends are pivoted at c tosuitable bearings B on the bottom of the bed, to which bearings theupper end of rod D is also pivoted, as previously stated. The arms arealso provided upon their upper sides with bosses or projections C2,which fit in suitable bearings or seats B2, formed on the bed, so thatwhen the parts are in their normal positions, with the bed in ahorizontal position with its side anges B3 B3 bearing against the underside of the stationary bed A2 on frame A, said bed B and its arm will beheld firm and rigid. (See Figs. 3, 4, and 7.) The folding-bed proper issupported at or near the center or point of equilibrium by the verticalconnecting -rod D, which is so connected at its lower end with a cam Eas to impart the action of said cam thereto to elevate and lower saidfolding-bed. In this instance said rod is attached to the free end ofaswinging lever F, pivoted at its opposite end to frame A and upon whichis mounted a friction-roll G, adapted to travel on the peripheralworking surface of the cam, as is shown in Fig. l. I do not limitmyself, however, to this particular construction.

A constant downward draft is imparted to the rod D by a spring H,attached at one end to said rod and at the other end to some stationarypart, thereby keeping the frictionroll G in contact with cam E andinsuring the proper operation of the folding-bed and parts connectedtherewith by said cam.

To the inner end of the folding-bed is pivoted the upper end of anotherconnectingrod I, which engages at its lower end with another cam J forimpartinglongitudinal movements thereto and thereby swinging thefolding-bed independent of the swinging movements imparted to it by thecam F., previously described. In this instance the lower end of rod I isprovided with a fork I',which straddles shaft K, and upon which ismounted a friction-roll L, adapted to travel on the peripheral workingsurface of cam J. A spring M is likewise used in this instance forexerting a downward draft on rod I and parts connected therewith for thesame purpose as spring H, previously described. The foldingbed and itssupports being thus constructed it is obvious that when the rod D ismoved up or down longitudinally by its cam E said folding-bed iscorrespondingly elevated or lowered, the same swinging on its pivot Awith the bed proper and its arms C C locked in the position shown inFigs. 3 and 4. They are thus held locked by the spring IWI and itsconnections pulling down upon the inner end of the bed proper, aspreviously described, until the cam J forces up rod I and raises theinner end of the bed from its seat on arms C. This does not occur untilthe bed and its arms have been lowered part way down in the operation ofdischarging the envelops therefrom.

In practice the cams E J are made of the proper shape and soarranged inrelation to each other as to lower the bed and its arms together intheir locked positions part way down in said discharging operationbefore the cam J commences to act to swing the inner end of said bed upindependent of said lowering operation.

Assuming that the cams and other parts are in the positions shown inFig. l of the drawings, with the folding-bed in its elevated or normalposition preparatory to being lowered to discharge a folded enveloptherefrom, as the cam E continues to rotate in the direction shown bythearrow and the friction-roll G is allowed to travel inward or descendtoward the axis of the cam said bed is gradually lowered from ahorizontal to an inclined position. Meanwhile the other cam, J, is alsoments of the bed.

turning, and by the time the bed is lowered to the proper place said camJ commences to force up its rod I, and in consequence the inner end ofthe bed, into the position shown in Fig. 5, thereby causing the envelopto be quickly discharged at quite an acute angle from the surface of thebed into the usual receiver or counting-box N. This provision of adouble pivoted folding-bed is not necessary for ordinary short envelops,but is quite essential to the proper discharge of long envelops for thereason that a large envelop, covering, as it does, a larger surface,creates a correspondingly-increased friction on said surface, whichretards its proper discharge unless the bed is tipped to quite an acuteangle, as in this case. Such a result is not easily obtained without alarge waste of valuable space in the construction of an envelop-machine,since if the bed was not arranged to tip or swing independent of itsusual swinging movement the cam E would have to be made much larger andmore space occupied to obtain the required vertical swinging move- Then,again, if the bed was not tipped at quite an acute angle in thedischarging operation the envelops would be discharged 4im properly intothe receiver or counting-box and said receiver or counting-box wouldhave to be arranged at a greater distance from the bed than is shown inthe drawings, thus wasting considerable space in this direction.

By my improved construction the cam E is required to be no larger thanordinarily, and the bed is tipped to the desired acute angle, with theutmost economy of space.

To further facilitate the discharge of th envelops from the folding-bed,I have provided the same with discharging-fingers d, attached to apivot-spindle e and adapted to work in Vertical longitudinal slots f,formed in said folding-bed. To said pivot-spindle e IOO IIO

is also secured an arm d', projecting down Y and back under thefolding-bed and having attached at its outer end a spring g, connectedat its opposite end with rod D. Said arm d is adapted to bear on itsunder side against a cam projection h, formed on the bearing t' at theupper end of rod D. VIn this instance two of said iingers are shown,(see Fig. 2;) but I do not limit myself to this number. When intheirnormal positions, they occupy the position shown in Fig. 4, with theirtop edges iiush with the top of the folding-bed and the arm d just backof the cam projection h; but when the folding-bed is lowered foldedenvelop on the bed to be raised above its surface to a still more acuteangle and, being performed quickly in the operation of the machine,imparts a slight push or tap to said envelop in addition to raising it,and in consequence a quick and positive discharge thereof is insuredfrom Said bed. Although I prefer to use said auxiliary device to insurethe discharge of the envelope, as the same result may be obtained, butin a less satisfactory degree, without it, I reserve the right to usethe same or not with my improved mechanism for tipping the bedindependently of its usual lowering operation.

As Will be observed, the mechanism which I have adopted is very sim plein construction, while at the same time effective for the purpose forwhich it is intended. By the application thereof to practice I amenabled to discharge large long envelops with equal certainty andfacility to those of common size without requiring more room than isordinarily required for the discharging mechanism of an envelop-machine.

Having now described my invention, what I claim therein as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an envelop-machine, the combination of the folding-bed,the centralsupportin g-rod, pivoted at its upper end to said folding-bed and havingmeans connected therewith for operating it longitudinally; thesupportingarms, pivoted also to the folding-bed and to the bed of themachine-frame; a rod pivoted to the inner end of said folding-bed andhaving means connected therewith for operating it longitudinally, andsaid machine-frame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an envelop-machine, the combination of the centrally-pivotedfolding-bed, the main supporting-rod to which it is pivoted and armspivoted to said folding-bed and to the bed 'of the machine-frame, With arod pivoted to the inner end of said folding-bed and having meansconnected therewith for operating it longitudinally, and saidmachine-frame, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an envelop-machine, the combination of folding-bed B; thesupporting-rod D, pivoted at its upper end to said folding-bed; lever Fpivoted to the lower end of said rod D, also to frame A, and having thefriction-roll G mounted thereon; cam E, adapted to engage with saidfriction-roll; means for exerting a downdraft on rodD; arms C Cpivotedto the folding-bed and to the bed A2 of frame A; rod I pivoted to theinner end of said foldingbed and having the friction-roll L mountedthereon; cam J, adapted to engage With said friction-roll L; means forexerting a downdraft on rod I, and frame A, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

4. In an envelop-machine, the combination of folding-bed B, providedwith the shoulders B2 and side flanges B3; vertically-operating,supporting-rod D; rod I, pivoted to the inner end of the folding-bed;arms C, C, pivoted to said folding-bed and to the bed of frame A, andhaving the projections C2 on their upper edges, and said frame A,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

. 5. In an envelop-machine, the folding-bed B, pivoted at about thecenter of its length to the upper end of rod D; said rod D, having thecam projection H at :its upper end and means for operating itlongitudinally; the vertically-operating rod I, pivoted to the inner endof said folding-bed; the arms C, C, also pivoted to said folding-bed andto the bed of frame A; pivoted, discharging-fingers d, adapted to workin slots formed in the folding-bed; arm d', connected with said ngersand adapted to engage with cam projection h; spring g attached at oneend to said arm d and at its other end to rod D, and frame A,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an envelop-machine, the combination of folding-bed B, pivoted atabout the center of its length to the upper end of theVertically-operating rod D and at its inner end to thevertically-operating rod I; the arms C, C, pivoted to said folding-bedand to the bed of frame A; the discharging-fingers d and their arm dpivoted at e; spring g, secured at one end to said arm d and at itsother end to rod D, and frame A, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

ABRAM A. RHEUTAN.

Witnesses:

W. B. NoURsE, C. FoRREsr WEssoN.

